If Sabres Are To End Cycle Of Disappointing Seasons, GM Kekalainen Has To Take Chances WIth Big Swings On Trade Market

In the past five days, the NHL has seen not one, but two blockbuster trades – one that sent late sent superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks to the Minnesota Wild, and one that sent veteran goalie Tristan Jarry from the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Edmonton Oilers. Thus, we don’t want to hear any talk that, in the salary cap era, it’s next to impossible to get deals done.

Advertisement

However, if you judge the work done by now-former Buffalo Sabres GM Kevyn Adams in his more than five-years running the team before he was fired Monday and replaced with former Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen, you might take that talk about impossible trades a little more seriously. But from this writer’s perspective, that had more to do with Adams’ paralysis about taking big swings than it does about other teams pulling off major deals.

Now, are there trades that constitute significant gambles? Sure there are. But don’t you think the Wild just gambled that Hughes is going to be a long-term piece of the puzzle in Minnesota? And don’t you think the Oilers just gambled that Jarry is going to do what former Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner couldn’t do and carry the Oilers to a Stanley Cup championship?

The answer to both those questions is a resounding ‘yes’. But the old saying about nothing ventured, nothing gained is accurate when it comes to trades. And that means Kekalainen has to take a chance if the Sabres are going to be a playoff team for the first time in a decade-and-a-half.

New Sabres GM Kekalainen Must Address These Three Issues The Buffalo Sabres fired GM Kevyn Adams Monday. And his replacement, former Columbus Blue Jackets architect Jarmo Kekalainen, needs to prioritize making some major changes to the Sabres. Here are the three key areas Kekalainen must address.

Advertisement

As we’ve argued recently, Buffalo needs to deal from positions of strength, and when it comes to the Sabres’ goaltending and defense corps, they have strength. So trading someone such as defenseman Owen Power is something the Sabres should be looking into. But that said, Kekalainen can’t play it safe and only make a minor deal or two in the immediate weeks and months ahead. Because they have to know sticking with the status quo is going to enrage Buffalo fans.

There’s another saying that applies to the Sabres, and that saying is ‘safe is death’. It will be easy for Kekalainen to keep his core together, but as we’ve seen this season, that core simply doesn’t have what it takes to be winners. That’s not up for debate. That’s a fact.

Here’s Why Sabres Need To Connect With Retooling Canucks To Acquire Star Center Pettersson The Vancouver Canucks pulled off a blockbuster trade this week. But the Buffalo Sabres need to connect with the Canucks to try and acquire star center Elias Pettersson. A bold trade package might just lure him from Vancouver’s rebuild — and generate a Sabres retool.

And if Buffalo is ever going to break this cycle of letdown season after letdown season, they’re going to need Sabres management to step to the plate and and acquire a different set of players.